Schools reopen Wednesday; flood may cut into spring break

Hardin County Director of Schools Michael Davis reminds all parents and students that all Hardin County Schools we be open tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 6.

He said this evening that bus drivers inspected their routes today to determine which routes were navigable, and all bus routes that can be safely driven will be.

As of 6:15 p.m., some roads were identified conclusively as impassible: buses will not be able to reach stops on Saltillo Road, Shoreline Lane and Dorothy Ann Lane in the Saltillo area, and Marshall Road in the West Hardin District. In the Crump area, Riverside Lane, Chelsea Road, Rose Road and Cody Drive are partially open, and buses will make stops where drivers deem it safe.

Davis said it’s entirely possible there are other affected roads of which he’s unaware. He is urging parents of students who are not picked up at their normal stop, or are in other flooded roads that aren’t safe for driving but not listed, to contact school bus company Durham Services directly, after 5:30 a.m., at 731-925-1410.

He said parents whose children get to school by bus or personal vehicle and are in an area that remains flooded and inaccessible need to call their child’s school and give them the student’s name and address.

“But it’s absolutely important that they call their child’s school tomorrow morning to report the absence and why,” he added.

For those in areas that are verified as still being flooded, the students’ absence will be excused.

“It’s not that we’re trying to question the word of parents who say, ‘Hey, we’re still flooded,’ but we have to verify it to excuse it. We have to submit a report to the state for this whole ordeal, and right now it’s a question whether we have to use all of our stockpile days for this flood — so we have to be exactly accurate in everything we report,” Davis said.

Regarding stockpile days, Davis said he’s submitted a request to the state Commissioner of Education to waive the school days missed during severe flood conditions, since it was a Category 3 state of emergency.

“Right now, as of today, we’re still OK. We start out with 11 stockpile days, and we’ve used eight for flooding, two for flu and one snow day — so if we have to use them all for the flood, we’ve used up all of them,” Davis said.

“If we don’t get a waiver for them, or at least some of them, and we have to miss any more days of school, we have to make them up. Then we will likely have no alternative but to eat into spring break.”
Davis said he would provide an update on whether the state will waive any days missed due to flooding as soon as he receives word.